March 2024 Newsletter
BURNING QUESTIONS FROM THE C-SUITE
From a CEO: How do I change priorities without frustrating my Right Hand (RH)? I don't want to derail the good work the RH is doing with the team.
The Right Hand’s ability to keep the team productive is one reason you love having a RH. It also makes it harder to pivot. The RH may view any new assignment as risking the current assignments. They’ve already made commitments about current work to you, to employees, and to customers or vendors. They don’t want to fail at those commitments. So their first reaction is to push back: they become a defensive end, taking down anybody—including you—who is preventing the team from reaching the end zone.
So what’s a CEO to do? Try this.
Pause and Listen. Before you pivot, invite your RH to help you brainstorm on the situation. Tell the RH you’re not changing priorities now. That could come later, but first you want their help thinking through an idea. Ask them to take off their do-er hat and explore possibilities and opportunities with you and not be constrained by current workload. Ask them to critique your idea. Switch positions and have the RH argue for the change and you argue against it. Talk about alternate ways to respond besides the one you’re about to assign. Let your RH help you act rather than react. You’ll emerge clearer on the need and scope of the change, and your RH will be a better partner in implementation. Caution: Your RH will feel manipulated if you only pretend to listen. Plus you’ll miss an opportunity to collaborate with somebody smart who you trust.
Think of Your Request as a Change Order. Giving instructions the first time is different than changing instructions you already gave. Imagine this is residential construction. We agreed on a house plan, and now you as homeowner want to adjust the plan. This requires negotiation. You tell the builder what you want, and the builder figures out how to move budget, schedule, and labor to accommodate. Then, the builder provides a new proposal showing what got dropped from and added to the initial plan. If the homeowner agrees to the adjustments, both people sign a Change Order and the builder proceeds. This process ensures the builder delivers exactly what the homeowner wants, and lets the homeowner be the one to make important tradeoff decisions. As CEO and RH, do you need this formal of a Change Order process? Probably not. But the same steps apply: a) issue the instruction, b) give RH time to figure out implications and propose tradeoffs, c) formally and clearly agree which tradeoffs to implement. Also, make the change request to the RH not to someone else on the team. You don’t tell the guy framing your house that you want a new closet—you tell his boss.
Stop saying it’s easy. Say this instead: I know this is a change, and it will probably be harder than I realize, but it’s important, so thank you for figuring out how to do it. Changing a plan can be fast. It can be important. But it is rarely easy. The leader has to reset work already in progress, and people don’t react in predictable ways. Even if you think the change will be low impact, let the RH decide that and tell you; don’t tell the RH. You might think you’re persuading or offering reassurance when you say it will be easy, but the RH may view your comments as either pressure or obliviousness, and neither of those perceptions moves the change forward faster. If you say this a lot, the RH might even start to feel like you don’t appreciate how hard they work for you since you keep saying their job is easy. If you want the scope to be narrow (different paint color not a whole new bathroom), say exactly that rather than saying it’s easy.
FAMOUS RIGHT HANDS (TV EDITION)
Popular culture gives us many Right Hand models, some healthy and some not. If you like to get your learning from a movie or TV show, here are three great Right Hand Relationships, each at a different level. It’s no coincidence that two of these examples are military. All three shows are on my “5 stars, highly recommend” list.
Radar O’Reilly and Colonel Potter from M*A*S*H*. Radar was a highly effective Executive Assistant who could read his boss’s mind and knew everything that went on.
Blake Moran and Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord from Madam Secretary. Blake functioned as a Chief of Staff in that he was in on policy discussions, met with high-level folks in the Secretary’s place, and directed the work of others when she asked him to.
Commander Mike Slattery and Capt. Tom Chandler from The Last Ship. Slattery was the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer, and he managed ship operations for Chandler. The two work together like they were made to be a matched set. They are an outstanding model (albeit created by screenwriters) for a CEO/COO team that gets the job done under pressure. As a counterpoint, see Lieutenant Roberts and Capt. Morton on Mr. Roberts for a terrible military RH relationship.
RIGHT HAND READY WEBINAR: THE CEO'S SECRET TO SCALING
I’m hosting a joint webinar series with One Eighty Collective, the search firm I partner with for Right Hand hires. The first webinar is Wednesday, March 27th at 11:30am MT. It’s a blueprint for identifying and hiring a senior Right Hand leader. It will help you understand your leadership needs, craft the ideal RH profile, and navigate the hiring process. A downloadable packet of tools and the recording will be available to everyone who registers. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3vegtJy
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Why Employees Don’t Do What They’re Supposed to Do . . . and What to Do About It by Ferdinand F. Fournies. A short reference on the 16 reasons employees don’t follow instructions. Scan the table of contents, find the most relevant reason, and read the 3- or 4-page chapter that tells you what to do. Is your employee not delivering because “They Think Your Way Will Not Work” or “They Think Something Else is More Important” or “They Think They Are Doing It”? Or maybe it’s one of the other 13 reasons. The solution is different in each case.
WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?
We help companies Get the Right Hand Right so they're ready for top leadership transition in 1-3 years.
Structure the Right Hand role for success
Onboard a new Right Hand
Teach an aspiring Right Hand the job
Performance-manage a struggling Right Hand
Create phased leadership succession plan